Friday, October 30, 2009

Yes I know. It isn't even November yet and I have talked about Christmas at least twice. I just wanted to update you on what we are doing. In Barcelos, we are using Bible verses as a kind of play. The big plus is after the play all the kids will have memorized a lot of verses.

In Povoa, we will be doing a play with the teenagers about the women in the family of Jesus. This has always facinated me how God used women that others would shun to bring the perfect Son of God into this world.

In Braga, we are having an international Christmas and singing Silent Night in 6 different laguages, English, French, German, Romanian, Spanish and finally, Portuguese. We have representatives of these cultures and more in this congregation.

I have also been busy translating 'Passion and Purity' by Elizabeth Elliot, the Satan's Traps notes, and a set of trivia questions from a Bible Trivia game. The Game is for the teenagers to help them learn more about the Bible.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The last two weeks have been a bit challenging. The last full week of September I attended a Fundamentals of the Faith conference in Southern Portgual. It was a great time of fellowship, singing and preaching. The theme was 'If God is for it then I am too!' There was preaching on music, doctrinal separation, life, marriage, and many more. Each pastor that preached did a great job. I was able to see friends I had not seen in some time and meet more friends that I did not know I had.On the way to catch a ride to the conference, my car engine stopped in the middle of the highway. I was able to get to the side of the road without incident but it was very scary. I attended the conference and put the matter of my car in God's hands. When I came back, I talked with the mechanic and he told me that the car was just so much junk and that I would be better off getting a new car. SOO to make a long story even longer, I now have a new car. I thank God that no one was hurt when my engine stopped working and that I have a new car so quickly.

On a more personal level, I am busy with translation, knitting for Christmas and Christmas play practice. I am also busy training my kitties. They are such wonderful company but also a lot of work. Oh well, that is the way most worthwhile things are. Hope you all are enjoying God's blessings!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Thank you for all your prayers for the campers and I. We were quarentined for about a week and had to take the awfullest medicine I have ever put in my mouth. It was like chewing up asprin, then putting it in water and swallowing the mixture. As I said absolutly gross. (shudder, shudder)

Anyway, I am happy to report that all of us are doing well. We made it through the quarentine with our health intact. So thank you for praying for us.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Camp was great this year. We took 36 campers to camp with about half of them unsaved, when we came back from camp that was no longer true. Just out of our group 8 had received Jesus as their personal Savior and many more from our group dedicated their lives to the Lord. That has been the highlight of camp. The lowest point came after camp when several of our campers were diagnosed with Gripe A (Swine Flu). Many of us including myself have been confined to quarters and medicated for the next 5 days. I personally do not have the disease but they are taking no chances that I may develope it because I was in contact with it. Please pray for us as we go through this time of testing.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Nina teases me about thinking about Christmas already but as a knitter you have to think ahead especially if you have a big family. This year I have been working on Christmas presents since April. (Yes I realize that these are last year's presents but you didn't think I would tell you what I was doing did you?)I am also starting to think about what we will do this year for our Christmas program. Usually I would start the process in September, but as I may also have to translate or even write our program, I am starting now. Yes, I know that is funny but hey you have to do what you have to do. So ... any suggestions on what I could do for Christmas. I really like to add the Gospel into what we do. It may be the only time that some people will hear the Gospel.I would like to show you my favorite of the new pictures of my niece. She just turned a year and is soooo sweet (no, I am not prejudiced). She looks a lot like the other three. Espcially the baby on the end. Can you guess who they are?

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Yes I know I have not blogged in a while. I have been busy with the work here. But I just could not help but post about my new babies. My coworker's cat had kittens on June 1 and as they were haveing trouble finding homes for them I offered to take two. I have only had dogs growing up but I think that cats would fit in better with my schedule. No WALKIES!! These two were soooo cute that I just can't resist them. The light one with black on the ears and paws is Smokey and the striped one with the white belly is Lyra. Aren't they cute!!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

At the end of March, my brother graduated from UTI in Houston with a degree in Auto Mechanics, Diesel engines and Ford FACT (this means he is Ford certified). He did an excelent job and I am certainly proud of my brother. Here are some of the pics from his graduation. He was awarded an award from UTI's military counsel. He is currently serving in the Army National Guard.

I also recently received some new pics of my niece. Please forgive me as I am a proud aunt and show off my niece.

Monday, March 23, 2009

I received word on Sunday morning before church that Otilia had passed on to glory on Saturday. This, of course, caused heart ache on my part, but I kept thinking all day that now she can walk without pain, take a deep breath, has no more pain, does not have to worry about eating, and can talk to Jesus and ask Him her many questions. However, she left us behind to finish the work she started with her family. I was not able to be with the family at this time but I did contact them and tell them they are in my prayers. During, my last visit with Otilia, she was in a hospital bed in a lot of pain. Now I sit here and with tears in my eyes I can picture her in Heaven serving her Lord to the best of her ability. This helps some with the pain of losing a cherished member of my extended 'family' and while I may have heart ache here because I miss her I know that God has wiped all her tears away and she is at peace. Now I pray for her family. They have no such hope.

Monday, March 16, 2009

That's right. Father's day in Portugal is in March, on the 19th to be exact. So last night in church we honored our fathers with a little gift. A card and a bookmark. Just a little something so that they know that we love them and are thinking of them on this day. Here are some of the pictures from our fellowship afterwards.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

There have been many wonderful things going on in the last couple of weeks but I have been busy with other things so haven't written about them.First, Sunday February 22, we had such a big blessing in our services. Almost all of the unsaved family members of our congregation were present!!! It was such a blessing!! The sad thing was watching Otilia struggle to walk into services. She has cancer and it is affecting her whole body. She can barely walk at all and has to use two cane-type crutches to get around, but she was there and she brought her husband, son and grandson with her. (her daughter-in-law is also one of the members of the church) Her daughter and family were the only ones missing but we will get them there yet. Bro. Mike preached a great message on salvation and the song service went so well with the message.Second, I finished Nina's sweater and as soon as I can get a picture I will post it. It turned out great. It fits just right. She even likes it. That is the most important part. It was a lot of work but taught me so much about the craft of knitting. It was fun but I am glad I am done with it. Now I have time to work on another project. This one is also a gift and I don't want to say too much but will post pictures when I am done.

Third, I finished translation on one of the books that I am working on. (the smallest but it is a book) I have also finished two chapters of 'Satan's Traps.' This is a college course set of notes written by one of my professors in college. It is a good study on how to avoid the traps Satan sets in our way. I am using it as part of a study on modesty and purity for Christian young ladies. They are the two largest chapters so maybe it will get faster as I go.Fourthly, we started practice for the ladies group. I have three ladies with the will to sing and good voices but hardly any musical training. So I started off with a round. A ROUND???? what is that you ask? It is a song that one person starts to sing and as they reach a certain part of the song the next person starts, and it just keeps going around and around like the Energizer Bunny.

Lastly, I thought I would throw in a picture of my niece. She is growing so fast and is already starting to eat solid foods. Her mom says that she loves peas and I say like mother like daughter. My sister has always loved veggies.

Well you are all caught up on what is going on around my house. I will try to be better about posting. I love all your comments and I read every one.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

As I said I have been reading in Exodus. Yesterday I read the chapters following Moses' descent from Mount Sinai. God was telling him what to do next after the golden calf incident (foolish, untrusting Israelites). I came across a verse that interested me. God was telling Moses to go up and inhabit the land that was promised to them. And then the verse God said, Exodus 33:1-2 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:" I never realized this part of the exodus story. God had told them that He would send His angel before them into the land and drive out the enemy. Ok if that is true (and of course it is God said it) than why the conflicting reports of the spies. HELLO! they all should have come back like Joshua and Caleb. Yes there are giants but our God is bigger than they are!!!!! Anyway it was a lesson to me about the consequences of not trustin Our Lord when He has told us we could trust Him.

In other news, I finished translating the book 'Stay in the Castle' by Jerry Ross. This is such an excellent book on personal purity. It is told in a 'fairy tale' way but has soo much truth in it. It was required reading at college and I think it will help young people here to realize the importance of abstainance before marriage and waiting for the one the Lord has for you instead of going your own way.

This seems to be a catch up blog post. I have completed about 3/4 of Nina's sweater and it is turning out very cool. I had to change the cuffs of it because they were not turning out right, but they look good now. I will post some pictures when I am finished.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

I have challenged myself this year to read through the Bible. So I have been reading in Exodus and the building of the Tabernacle, and it struck me how detailed God really is. He gave the Israelites specific instructions on how to build the Tabernacle. If you read it you can see the incredible detail that He gives. It hit me that God cares about not just the big things but the tiny things as well. I knew this of course but it struck me in a diferent way this time. God wants us to be like Him so I must be detail oriented but also keep the big picture in mind when I look at the details. Kind of like a combination of Mary and Martha. Yes, be concerned with the little day to day details of our Christian lives but set those aside if it will interfer with what is truly important, our relationship with Jesus Christ. This tells me it is ok to be detail oriented but don't focas so much on the details that you forget the big things too. They all have their importance. Reading about the Tabernacle, I also see that big things are made up of small details. The Tabernacle as a whole was the place to worship God, but God gave the children of Israel the specifics. The interesting part is that all the details had to be right or the priest could not come before God. I am going to have to think some more on this subject and see what other wonders God has in this book. Isn't God GREAT!!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Do you know how dangerous home improvement shows are? NO!! Well I'll tell you how dangerous they are. They give you IDEAS!!!!!So this is what you do at 12 midnight when you have an IDEA. You move furniture. So now my piano and a comfy chair are in my craft room and I put up the knitting machine for a little while. I now have my laptop on the craft table so I can spread out to translate without my dining room table having books all over it. (It was starting to bug me.) I also switched my dining room and my living room (two ends of a big room) so that the living room is next to the fireplace. Now I have a BIG empty wall that needs filling and NO IDEAS. So back to the home improvement show. Oh well it is a viscious cycle!! If you can save me from this terrible cycle with some IDEAS, PLEASE help.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

That sounds like a complaint but really it isn't. I would like to tell you of some of the projects on which I am working. Nina's blog really hit me hard, you know the one on transparency. You see I am one of Trinity's Sunday School teachers. In fact, I am the only one who speaks both languages. So as her SS teacher I should also be helping her learn about God. Yikes! So I am working on a special set of lessons entitled 'Discoverers of Truth'. We are starting with the wordless book and then moving on from there. You have to start with salvation because that is where the Christian life starts. That is one of my projects.

Next, I was recently asked to head up a ladies choral group in one of the other congregations with whom we work. So I am gathering special music for us to sing. This is hader than it needs to be as everytime I think of a song, ... Wait i can't use that one it is in English ... this thought pops up in my mind. I have been working on gathering PORTUGUESE songs together so that we can sing them. I may have to write some.

I am also continuing to work on the translations. So I am busy, which I prefer to being not busy. I will keep you updated on the progress of these projects and if you have any ideas I would sure appreciate them. I love to bounce ideas off others. (don't worry this does not hurt even though it sounds like it would.) I love getting ideas from all over. My mother recently told me about Martha Stewart.com. While I don't like her ethics, she has a lot of good ideas that can be transformed into SS crafts or object lessons. The great thing is that all of her stuff is usually made from scratch, which is good for a missionary.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Today I visited one of our ladies who is in the hospital. I went with the niece of the woman in the hospital. I thought getting in to see someone would be fairly easy, wow was I wrong. There is a line you have to wait in to get a visitors pass. The patient can only have two visitors at a time. We waited half an hour until the current visitors left and then had to leave our Portuguese tax id number card with the receptionist so we could get a pass to see the patient. Talk about complicated. Once we got in, we were able to visit for quite a while and had a good visit. Getting out was much simpler. Just a sample of life here in Portugal. Not your normal American hospital experience. Next time, I will be prepared for the hassle.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

This week has been very interesting. I started it off by watching the children of a missionary here in Portugal. That was fun. They have 8 children and I watched 6 of them. I even got some translating done, WOW!Then I got news from my parents that they have finally gotten all the paperwork done and can stay in Moçambique for another year.After that I had a big blessing in the form of my computer. WHAT a blessing in a computer? Aren't they tools of the devil and when ever you need one It does not work right? Though at times it seems that is true, I got a BIG blessing from my computer. I recently had to buy a new laptop as my old one was not keeping up with the work I am doing here on the field. So I had a new laptop with a version of Microsoft Office in Portuguese. (Big blessing there as I am translating and the program catches my errors) Well, it was only a trial version and required a key to keep running. AAHHH where am I going to get a key for Office??? My version is in English. Deep Breath. So I put in what I had and guess what ... wait for it ... It kept the portuguese version and went on working. YEAHHHHHH! This is a blessing because as I said I am translating and it is sooooo much easier when I use a Portuguese program for a Portuguese book.(Now if I could just remember how to talk in either language that would help.)Finally, last night I watched Nina's girls and boy while she and her husband went to that place ... you know the dentist. I can certainly empathise with Nina. I have had a lot of work done on my mouth and it is not fun to sit in a dentist's chair. Then on top of that to get a dentist who does not speak the same language. Yikes!! I would be running for the door right behind her.My week is almost over so maybe next week will be a bit less hectic ... or maybe not. Is that the theme to Jaws I am hearing?

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

I told you that I would put up a picture of the gifts I made for Christmas. Well here they are. I used a combination of my knitting machine and hand knitting to make each sweater. The patterns came from the Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. I came up with the variations. I hope you like the pictures of them. I had fun making them even though I finished on Christmas Eve. (I know that was cutting it a bit close there.) The other picture is a photo of the sweater i am making for Nina. She knows it is coming and I am knitting it as fast as possible.

Last friday, we had a shocking thing happen, it snowed. In all the years I have lived in Portugal, this is only the second time I have seen it do that. I had so much fun watching it come down, but I didn't like the cold it brought with it. It was so cold that I could see my breath in the house. That was sure fun, NOT! All you sceptics require proof I bet. Well check out Nina's Blog at Portugal Bound. She has some lovely pictures of the snow. I know it wasn't for Christmas but it was close enough to count. (especially as we don't see it very often here in this part of the world.

Singing My Praises?

I am a missionary and a missionary kid currently serving in the field of Portugal. My parents were missionaries to Portugal for 17 years, but are now serving in the field of Mozambique. I am a musician and a crafter. I love to sing, play and write songs, knit and sometimes you might even catch me with a crochet hook. I am almost never caught with a cross stitch project. I work with children, teens, music and translation.